Sunny Saturday

The hot topic around Dodgertown today was Russell Martin and the amount he’ll play this season. Joe Torre said that he’ll try to watch out not to overuse Russell and that he’s had experience with a player like this, as he’s had Jorge Posada as his catcher in New York for a decade. However, he said that he wouldn’t make any decisions about how often Russell will play until the two of them get a chance to sit down and chat. For his part, Russell said that last year he often lobbied Grady to play even when Grady tried to give him days off and that he’ll probably do the same again this year, but that he understands the need not to wear himself down over the course of a season.

Additionally, everyone came away impressed with Jason Schmidt, who threw a bullpen session today and used four different pitches. Joe Torre said he thought Schmidt was further along in the process than he expected but that he’ll still have two days off before his next bullpen (like Yhency Brazoban), whereas the rest of the pitchers will throw every other day.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

22 Comments

Schmidt news is encouraging. Martin is a gamer, no doubt. I am happy they are taking their time with him. If he is ready by June it would be great. In the mean time, if Loaiza can pitch effectively in the 5 spot for the first 2 months of the season, we could shop him at the trade deadline.

Im glad to see that Schmidt is getting better. Afterall, we need him in the rotation this year, hopefully. Russ loves to play the game and i respect and admire his enthusiasm. But he does need to take it easy once in a while.
THANKS FOR THE UPDATE JOSH!

It’s good to have Yhency Brazoban back. Yeah Brazo was said to have a golden arm and at one time he showed it to us. He reminds me of the Gagne’ days. It would be great to see him come back to form. I’m looking forward to having MLBTV at the start this year. It will enable me to watch Dodger spring training games against teams other than the Mets & the Yankees. It will also let me see if it’s any better. If not I’ll get Extra Inning on TV again. I also like reading that Schmidt is doing ok right now. If he keeps his velocity up we could be in business. If the offense doesn’t decide to go to sleep every time Lowe takes the mound that would be a bigger help. Let’s go Mike Easler. Of course Derek has to keep that ball down. On a positive note we’re all a year older and the experience our younger players have is surely the best thing.

Ghame Over would definitely be a pleasant surprise, if he finds his way into the bullpen. Can you guys imagine a bullpen with Saito-Broxton-Brazoban-Beimel-Proctor.
That’s a **** good looking bullpen.

Schmidt news is also a pleasant surprise. A full year of Schmidt in the rotation along with the other four guarantees the NL West division. The Padres might match our rotation, but their offense isn’t nearly as good. The Snakes have, arguably the best 1-2 punch in the NL, but Dodgers are superior in the 3-5 spots.

When Brazo first came from the Yankees, I believe. He looked pretty good. He could sure fire that ball in there. He lost it after that and then got hurt. I believe he tried to come back too soon. He did have a strong arm and we saw it. He hasn’t lived up to his potential but if he ever comes back to form he’ll make you forget about his past work as a closer.

Although Brazoban has always thrown very hard, he has also always thrown very flat. If that has not changed, he will be very hitable. But if he has learned to put some movement on his fastball, LOOK OUT!

Great news about Jason Schmidt. Man, I hope he comes back strong.

I agree that Russell needs a little more time off this season than last, but I sure do hate it when he is not in the line-up.

Just read that Kershaw and Elbert won’t be in Spring camp. Don’t want to take opportunities away from vets. Why would we give the Martins, Koploves, Sturtzes time that could be valuable experience for our two best prospects? No Kershaw or Elbert will be VERY unpopular amongst us fans.

Elbert was in camp last year, but I understand they are babying him a bit. Don’t understand why Kershaw couldn’t have gotten a look but whatever. Alot of minor leaguers who are not invited to camp usually get into a game or two anyways, so they might too. I remember last year DeWitt and DeJesus played in a couple games even though they weren’t NRIs.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.